The invention relates to a pneumatic marker or paint ball gun, to a method of making and operating such a paint ball gun, and to a retrofit kit for converting a conventional paintball gun to embody the improved structure and operation of this invention.
Paint ball guns were originally developed for marking uses such as forestry and cattle ranching, in which frangible projectiles or paint balls were fired against trees to be harvested or cattle to be taken to market, for example. For this reason, the paint ball guns themselves are frequently referred to as xe2x80x9cmarkers.xe2x80x9d But, more recently paint ball guns are much more widely used in various recreational environments, such as simulated war games wherein it is the intent to shoot at an opposing player with the paint ball gun, thus marking this opposing player with a particular color of paint from a frangible paint ball.
Paint ball guns using compressed air or gas for power are well known. Until recently, most paint ball guns were pneumatically powered, mechanically operated guns. The entry of electro-pneumatically operated paint ball guns provided more consistent and better performing guns for the recreational market. An electro-pneumatic paint ball gun provides improved performance with fewer component malfunctions than the earlier mechanical-pneumatic paint ball guns. However, a common problem with the conventional electro-pneumatic paint ball guns is that they use a mechanical sear device to release a hammer. The hammer is spring loaded to a position at which it impacts a valve stem, opening a flow path for high pressure gas to communicate to a paint ball, propelling the paint ball through and from a barrel of the gun. The adjustment of the engagement and release of the mechanical hammer and sear remains an uncertain element of conventional paint ball gun operation, requiring frequent adjustments in order to operate at high cyclic rates.
A more recent paint ball gun is shown in United States Pat. No. 6,532,949 (hereinafter, the xe2x80x9c949xe2x80x9d patent). In the ""949 patent, a hammer of a paint ball gun is moved in each of two opposite directions by respective ends of a rod member, to which respective pneumatic pressures are applied sequentially by a solenoid valve. In this 949 patent, the hammer must be moved in each direction of its stroke by a respective pneumatic pressure, and these respective pneumatic pressures must be sequentially controlled by a solenoid valve.
In view of the deficiencies of the related art, it is an object for this invention to mitigate or eliminate at least one of these deficiencies.
Specifically, it is an object for this invention to provide a paint ball gun having no mechanical sear for releasing a hammer to discharge the paint gun.
Another object for this invention is to provide such a paint ball gun in which a hammer is pneumatically driven in one direction only to discharge the paint ball gun, and is driven in the opposite direction by a biasing spring in order to prepare the paint ball gun for its next discharge.
Still another object for this invention is to provide such a paint ball gun in which a microprocessor controller may be accessed by the user of the paint ball gun in order to fine tune the time sequence of events in the operation of the paint gun.
The present invention addresses the deficiencies of the conventional technology by providing an electro-pneumatically operated paint ball gun having a main body defining a first bore for receiving a paint ball. The first bore also receives a reciprocable bolt assembly which in respective first and second positions relative to the main body closes and opens a breech of the gun. A feed inlet opening to the first bore is provided for providing a supply of paint balls to the breech, and the main body further defines a second bore spaced below and substantially parallel with the first bore. A passage communicates from the second bore to the breech. A pneumatic discharge valve is disposed in the second bore, the pneumatic discharge valve including a seat member, and a poppet valve member sealingly engaging in a first position upon the seat member to close communication of pressurized gas from a source thereof to the breech via the passage. This poppet valve member includes a poppet valve stem extending through the seat member rearwardly of the gun. A pneumatic hammer assembly also is disposed in the second bore aft of the discharge valve, the pneumatic hammer assembly including a sleeve member defining a bore, a hammer member reciprocally and sealingly movable in the sleeve member bore and cooperating therewith to define a variable-volume chamber having a minimum volume with the hammer member in a first position. A spring is disposed in the second bore between the pneumatic hammer assembly and the pneumatic discharge valve and biases the hammer member to the first position. The hammer member in response to receipt of pressurized gas in the sleeve bore moves axially forwardly of the gun to a second position to abut the poppet valve stem, thus unseating the poppet valve member to a second position and opening the discharge valve to communicate pressurized gas to the breech via the passage.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts upon reading the following detailed description of a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, which illustrates the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.